Obedience: Milgram's Study

Stanley Milgram (1963) conducted one of the most famous and controversial experiments in the history of psychology. His study investigated the extent to which ordinary people would obey an authority figure, even when the orders involved causing harm to another person.

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Background

Milgram was inspired by the events of the Holocaust during World War II, in which millions of people were systematically murdered by the Nazi regime. Many of those responsible claimed they were "just following orders." Milgram wanted to test whether ordinary people could be made to obey orders to harm others.

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Milgram's Study (1963)

Aim

To investigate how far ordinary people would go in obeying an authority figure who instructed them to administer electric shocks to another person.

Method

• 40 male participants (aged 20–50) were recruited through newspaper advertisements in New Haven, USA
• Participants were told the study was about the effects of punishment on learning
• Each participant was assigned the role of "teacher" (the assignment was rigged — the participant was always the teacher)
• A confederate (Mr Wallace) played the role of "learner" and was strapped to a chair in another room
• The teacher had to ask the learner questions and administer an electric shock for each wrong answer, increasing by 15 volts each time, from 15V to 450V
• The shocks were not real — the learner was an actor who pretended to be in pain
• The learner's scripted responses included complaints of pain (150V), screaming (315V), and eventually silence (330V+)
• If the teacher hesitated, the experimenter (authority figure in a grey lab coat) used a series of verbal prods: "Please continue," "The experiment requires that you continue," "It is absolutely essential that you continue," "You have no other choice, you must go on"

flowchart LR
    E["EXPERIMENTER<br/>grey lab coat<br/>at Yale University<br/>scripted prods"]
    T["TEACHER<br/>real participant<br/>40 male volunteers<br/>shock generator<br/>15V to 450V"]
    L["LEARNER<br/>Mr Wallace<br/>confederate<br/>strapped in chair<br/>adjacent room"]
    E -->|"Please continue"<br/>"You must go on"| T
    T -->|delivers shock<br/>increasing 15V| L
    L -.->|scripted screams 180V<br/>silence from 330V| T
    T -->|hesitates| E

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Results

Level	Participants Who Reached It
300V (intense shock)	65% continued past this point
450V (maximum — labelled "XXX")	65% administered the maximum shock
Stopped before 300V	35%

• All 40 participants continued to at least 300V
• 65% (26 out of 40) continued to the maximum 450V
• Many participants showed signs of extreme distress — sweating, trembling, nervous laughter, biting their lips — but still continued to obey

Conclusion

Ordinary people are far more obedient to authority than most people would predict. The situation (the authority figure, the setting, the gradual escalation) was more important than individual personality in determining obedience.

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Why Did Participants Obey?

Milgram proposed several explanations:

1. Legitimate Authority

The experimenter was perceived as a legitimate authority figure — he wore a lab coat, was associated with a prestigious university (Yale), and appeared competent. People are socialised from childhood to obey authority figures.

2. Agentic State

Milgram proposed the concept of the agentic state — a mental state in which a person sees themselves as an agent carrying out the wishes of an authority figure. In this state, the person does not feel personally responsible for their actions — they believe the authority figure is responsible.

The opposite is the autonomous state — where a person makes their own decisions and feels responsible for their own actions.

3. Gradual Commitment (Foot-in-the-Door)

The shocks started at a very low level (15V) and increased in small increments. Having agreed to give a small shock, it was difficult to refuse the next slightly larger one. This gradual escalation made it hard to find a clear point at which to refuse.

4. The Situation

The situation was carefully designed to promote obedience: a prestigious setting, a legitimate authority figure, scripted prods, and a gradual increase in demand.

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Milgram's Variations

Variation	Obedience Rate	What Changed
Original study	65%	Experimenter in same room, learner in adjacent room
Proximity of learner	40%	Learner in same room as teacher
Teacher forced learner's hand onto shock plate	30%	Physical contact with learner
Experimenter gave orders by telephone	20.5%	Authority figure not physically present
Ordinary building (not Yale)	47.5%	Study conducted in a run-down office building
Two experimenters disagreeing	0%	Conflicting authority — participants stopped

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Evaluation of Milgram's Study

Strengths

• Groundbreaking — revealed the power of situational factors in obedience
• Variations provided valuable information about factors affecting obedience
• Has been replicated in many countries with similar results (e.g. Burger, 2009)
• High practical importance — explains real-world obedience (military atrocities, corporate misconduct)

Weaknesses

• Ethical issues — participants were deceived (shocks were not real), could not easily withdraw (prods pressured them to continue), and experienced significant psychological distress
• Low ecological validity — the situation was artificial; giving electric shocks in a lab does not represent everyday obedience
• Demand characteristics — some researchers suggest participants may have guessed the shocks were not real
• Sample bias — all participants were American males; findings may not fully generalise
• Historical context — conducted in early 1960s America; obedience levels may differ in other times and cultures

Exam Tip: The key statistic is 65% went to 450V, NOT that all participants obeyed. Always mention the ethical concerns (deception, distress, right to withdraw) when evaluating. Use the variations to discuss factors affecting obedience.

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Key Points

• Milgram (1963) found that 65% of participants obeyed to 450V (maximum shock).
• Obedience was explained by legitimate authority, agentic state, and gradual commitment.
• Variations showed that obedience decreased with proximity to the learner and absence of the authority figure.
• The study is criticised for ethical issues, low ecological validity, and sample bias.
• It demonstrates the powerful effect of the situation on obedience.

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Worked study: Milgram (1963) — full write-up

Milgram (1963) is one of the most important studies in psychology and must be known in detail for AQA GCSE Psychology. Learn the aim, procedure, findings, conclusion, and evaluation (GRAVE).

Aim: To investigate the extent to which ordinary American men would obey an instruction from a perceived legitimate authority figure to deliver increasingly severe electric shocks to a stranger, even when the orders caused apparent suffering. Milgram was motivated by the post-Holocaust question of whether "Germans are different" or whether obedience to destructive authority is a universal human tendency.